Predicting Academic Performance Based on Verbal Communication Skills with the Mediating Role of Metacognitive Skills in Students with Mathematical Learning Disabilities

The importance of academic performance of exceptional children has become very important in the conditions governing the educational system of Iran. Various psychological aspects are effective on the academic performance of students with learning disabilities. In the existing literature in this field, the improvement of academic performance has been considered, but influencing variables such as verbal-communication skills and metacognition skills have been neglected.

The purpose of the present study was to Predicting Academic Performance Based on Verbal Communication Skills with the Mediating Role of Metacognitive Skills in Students with Mathematical Learning Disabilities

The method of the present study is descriptive and correlational, which was done by structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all students (male and female) with mathematical learning disorder in the second grade of primary school in Kermanshah in the academic year 2022-2023. The sample consisted of 200 students from 10 to 12 with mathematical disorder in Kermanshah who were selected by purposive sampling. The data collection tools in this research include academic performance questionnaires (Pham and Taylor, 1999), verbal-communication skills (Barton JA, 1990), and metacognitive skill questionnaires (Walters, 1993). Data analysis was done using Pearson correlation coefficient, regression, and structural equation model (SEM) in SPSS.23 and AMOS.23 software.

The results indicate that there is a correlation between verbal communication skills with academic performance and metacognitive skills (P< 0.05). There is also a relationship between metacognitive skills and academic performance. The results showed that communication-verbal skills are related to academic performance through metacognitive skills (P <0.05).

The use of communication-verbal and meta-cognitive skills leads to a significant growth of learning in students with mathematical learning disorders, so it is possible to strengthen the communication-verbal and meta-cognitive skills while strengthening the academic performance of students with the disorder. Mathematical learning provides the basis for accurate recognition of capacities, abilities and shortcomings by themselves